Grace and Truth
In Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, grace (g5485) means “of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues.” Truth (g0225) means “of a truth, truly, in reality, in fact, certainly, according to truth.”
Speaking about the Lord Jesus, John 1:14, 16-17 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
Because He is the Good Shepherd, any voice speaking in the name of Jesus that is not full of grace and truth is distorted. This is why it is vitally important to Know the Shepherd’s Voice.
The Man Born Blind
The Lord Jesus Himself encountered strange voices contrary to the word and will of God during His earthly walk. The voices we will explore today are the Pharisees and parallel them to the distorted voices in the church today. In John 9, the Lord Jesus healed a man born blind. His disciples asked Him whose sin caused the man to be born blind. He explained that neither the man nor his parents sinned, but the man was born blind so the works of God or a miracle might be displayed in him. John 9:6-12 says this about the miracle –
When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing. Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, “Is not this he who sat and begged?” Some said, “This is he.” Others said, “He is like him.” He said, “I am he.” Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?” He answered and said, “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.” Then they said to him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.”
The people who knew the man to be the blind beggar then brought him to the Pharisees because he could now see! They were looking for acknowledgment of this obvious miracle from the religious leadership.
They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. They said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” (John 9:13-17)
Grace Rebuffed and Truth Attacked
Instead of rejoicing that this man born blind could now see, the Pharisees immediately veered from grace and truth. First, the Pharisees disparaged the Lord Jesus by labeling Him as a sinner. Why? Because He performed the miracle on the wrong day of the week, according to them. By doing so, the grace of God was rebuffed in an instant. Secondly, the Pharisees attempted to make the man who received his sight doubt the works of God revealed in his life. They did this by questioning him about the Lord Jesus and even questioning whether or not he was even born blind. This was an attack on truth with the goal of denying that the kingdom of heaven was at hand (Matthew 4:17).
In John 9:18-23, the Jews called the man’s parents to corroborate that he was indeed born blind. His parents confirming that he was born blind was enough to make the Jews believe the gracious miracle God had performed in the man’s life, even though it was performed on the Sabbath. However, the Pharisees, who had their own standards of righteousness, would not let it go. Instead, they called the man again to question him, to make him believe what they wanted him to believe and to say what they wanted him to say, basically, their truth. Today, we call this gaslighting. The purpose of gaslighting is to make a person uncertain of their own perception of reality, memory, or judgement. We will explore gaslighting tactics used in unhealthy sheepfolds in-depth in future posts.
So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.” He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.” Then they said to him again, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” He answered them, “I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?” Then they reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples. We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from.” The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.” They answered and said to him, “You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?” And they cast him out.” (John 9:24-34)
The Pharisees relentlessly questioned this man. Then in an effort to maintain their pretense of spiritual superiority, they proclaimed that they were Moses’ disciples and that God spoke to Moses. When the man could not be manipulated and would not agree with their version of the truth and confidently spoke up for himself and for God, they insulted him by saying he was completely born in sins and cast him out.
Even though the Pharisees blatantly belittled, insulted, and subjected this man to gaslighting, he held on to grace and truth. He did not let his faith waver. When the Lord Jesus found him later and asked if he believed in Him, he simply said, “Lord, I believe!” This should be our response today when anyone attempts to assault our faith and confidence in God and attempts to lead us into doctrine which is not according to godliness (1 Timothy 6:3). The man born blind showed us how to deal with distorted voices that want us to deny the presence and power of God in our lives. He went and washed and truly came back seeing!
“All Others”
The Lord Jesus then showed us how to deal with voices that do not sound like Him. At the end of John 9, He told the Pharisees that He came into the world for judgement, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind. The Pharisees asked Him if they were blind also. He told them in John 9:41, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.” In the beginning of John 10, while still talking to the Pharisees, the Lord Jesus points out that thieves and robbers exist that try to get His sheep to follow them. He also explained that His sheep know his voice and will not follow a stranger.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” (John 10:1-5)
The Lord Jesus goes on to say in John 10:8, “All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.” By saying this, He contrasted Himself with “all others.” The Pharisees had their own standards of righteousness that were not in line with the word of God. They were not leading and shepherding the sheep with grace and truth according to the word of God. He was telling the Pharisees that they were thieves and robbers, and because they were strangers, His sheep were not expected to hear nor follow them. In John 10:10, He said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” This was on full display in the Pharisees’ interactions with the man born blind. They should have been celebrating and rejoicing with him, not questioning and berating him.
Thieves and Robbers in the Church Today
Like the Pharisees in the Lord Jesus’ day, there are thieves and robbers in the midst of the church today trying to get His sheep to follow them. Thieves and robbers came before Him and have certainly come after Him. While the pastoral leadership is the last person we expect to be the thief and the robber, this was not unexpected by the Lord Jesus. He clearly warns us that there are people posing as shepherds who did not or do not enter the sheepfold by the door, and in John 10:9, He said, “I am the door.” He clearly warns us that there are thieves and robbers under the guise of pastoral leadership in the sheepfold. He clearly warns us that there are hired hands, who don’t care about His sheep, in the sheepfold.
The Pharisees were all about spiritual superiority, outward appearances, and taking the place of honor. But the Lord Jesus said they were inwardly full of greed, wickedness, hypocrisy, and lawlessness (Luke 11:38, Matthew 23:28). As we discussed in The Root Cause of Unhealthy Sheepfolds post, the church at Pergamum was dominated by the strange voices of the Nicolaitans in the early church. The Lord Jesus came to give His believers abundant life, but the Nicolaitans worked against Him by teaching doctrine He hated, with practices and beliefs rooted in idolatry and immorality.
Practical for us today, any belief, teaching, or doctrine that does not manifest grace and truth is a strange voice and must be placed in the “all others” category. The Lord Jesus expects us to flee and not listen to any pastoral leadership that teaches doctrine that sounds more like a Pharisee than the Good Shepherd. Doctrine that the Lord Jesus hates must be rejected and avoided to protect our souls and spirits from unholy influences that will defile our faith, and if left unchecked, will kill, steal, and destroy our faith and relationship with God altogether.
In our next post, we will explore how strange voices sound today speaking in the name of Jesus.
Disclaimer: Before making decisions or changes that affect your spiritual life and well-being, always personally seek God for His perfect will for your life and always follow peace.
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible is public domain.
